This sediment outcrop is a distinctive one-foot thick mixed layer of sediment that is tied strongly to the Qumran earthquakes onshore ground ruptures of 31 B.C. The Cancellation Of The Curse Of Death, And The Free Gift Of Eternal Life, The Cancellation Of The Curse Of Sickness, And The Availability Of Supernatural Health, The Cancellation Of The Curse Of Poverty, And The Availability Of Gods Supernatural Abundance, Victory Over Satan Won At The Crucifixion, Accreditation, Acknowledgements and Legal notices for Crucifixion, Contact Dr Richard Kent and Recommendation. And just for fun, who could possibly falsely place this earthquake during the time of Tiberius Caesar and roughly the time period of the 202nd Olympiad (and I fully grasp the weight of the word roughly)? There are few historical records that are actually from the time of Christ but there are some records from historians from the second century AD. So, these historical extrabiblical sources are also consistent with the AD 33 date. Tertullians statement certainly suggests he himself had seen the account of this world-portent. Otherwise, it would have been foolhardy of him to have made such a bold challenge to such sticklers for record keeping as the Romans, who could have proven him wrong. Now let us consider how he might have categorized the Crucifixion darkness. Phlegon of Tralles was a first century secular Greek historian born not long after the Crucifixion. But consider how do we know anything about history? But why is this significant, if it doesnt even validate darkness during the Crucifixion as referenced in the Gospels? This information would be every unlikely to have been added at a later time due to its specificity in time. Retrieved November 30, 2006 from [2]. There are some uncertainties in the Olympiad numbering system but it seems from various sources the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad would be either AD 32 or AD 33. And it cannot happen at any other time but in the interval between the first day of the new moon and the last of the old, that is, at their junction: how then should an eclipse be supposed to happen when the moon is almost diametrically opposite the sun? . I would say there are a couple oflines of argument that can be used to date the crucifixion. The onah concept applies to part "days" and whole "days" so that they counted the same. Euse-bius, in his records of the year A.D. , quotes at length from Phlegon, who says that, in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was a great and remarkable eclipse of the sun, above any that had happened before. However, history provides a sufficient answer as to why such documentary evidence has not survived on these topics of great interest. If your sunset occurs later than sunset in Athens, the event may occur on the previous day . Thus says the LORD, Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me . . Then the other speaker, also a minister, stepped forward. Tradition informs us that Marks gospel derives directly from Peters oral preaching in Rome (seehere). Since Passover took place in the Spring before the Olympics, I think the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad would be Summer 32 AD to Summer 33 AD. Next, we consider the Gospel of Matthew. This is what Colin Humphrey's does well in his book, considering a variety of types of information. Created With Love By Bright Mark Media LLC. Updated May 2013 Phlegon of Tralles (Ancient Greek: Flegon o Trallianos) was a Greek writer and freedman of the emperor Hadrian, who lived in the 2nd century AD. (see Figure 2 below). The skeptics objection is an argument from silencethat other writerswouldhave said something if the darkness had really happened. 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, in the 18th year of Tiberius. Dont believe me? To God nothing is impossible. (LogOut/ On the Circumstances Connected with Our Saviours Passion and His Life-Giving Resurrection, The Wheels of the Formal Correction turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine. From all the information above I believe there is a fairly strong convergence of evidence that Christ's crucifixion was in April of 33 AD. Therefore the year of the crucifixion is A.D 33. If your sunset occurs later than sunset in Athens, the event may occur on . [1] There are two books credited to his name:Chronicles and the Olympiads. He was dying as the newborn infant was being brought back from Egypt by his parents. Here, too, we see an Apostle feared not to mention the event precisely because it was already widely known among his readers. The Romans and Jews could have falsified Peters claimhad it been false. First, is what I would call deduction from all available information. The Romans, for example, are known to have have kept archives which included data on eclipses of the moon and sun. Jesus baptism was apparently not long after the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over the whole earth, until the ninth hour. (Matthew 27: 45), And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole earth until the ninth hour. The source from Jerome above is interesting in that it dates the unusual darkening of the sky by the Olympiad numbering system. It does however, place Phlegons writing, transposed hundreds of years later by Christian writers, as a scientifically-accurate writing. Your email address will not be published. This firmly connects Jesus and the gospels to Roman history. and a seismic event that happened sometime between the years 26 and 36. For the Hebrews celebrate the passover on the 14th day according to the moon, and the passion of our Saviour fails on the day before the passover; but an eclipse of the sun takes place only when the moon comes under the sun. The fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad I believe would include some of the same year as the 203rd Olympiad but the new Olympiad did not start till the Olympics event took place in the Summer. What about all the other earthquakes that have hit California in the first part of the 20th century? Ancient writers sometimes describe their Olympiads as lasting five years but do so by counting inclusively; in fact each comprised a four year period. (below) says it took place in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, which was 33 A.D. - which can be verified by clicking on the link following Phlegon's quote in red below. Let us, briefly, consider the case for the historicity of this event by first quoting the relevant gospel accounts. To me it seems the place to start with deduction from all the available information is with John the Baptist. We do however have important sections of Phelgon's work, which are critical in dating the Crucifixion. Between 3 PM and sunset the Jews had to prepare the body and get it into the tomb, because the Sabbath started Friday evening around sunset. Many authors have suggested various means of resolving all the mysteries about the date of the crucifixion. However, we might venture to reasonably speculate why Plinyif he had known of the Crucifixion darknesschosenot to include it in his examples. Little is known about Phlegon, but he made reference to Christ. We know that Jesus was crucified in the Spring, at the time of the Passover. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea. Have you ever heard of Phlegon of Karia? The maximum duration for a total solar eclipse is seven minutes, not three hours, and at the latitude of Jerusalem the maximum duration is even less. In the verses above, Peter cites a scripture which speaks of various signs which God did by Him, inclusive of thesun being darkenedand the moon turning red. For example the first Olympiad happened in 776 and the second occurred in 772 BC. But Peter standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke to them: Ye men of Judea, and all you that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known to you, and with your ears receive my words. Africanus refutes the attempt of Thallus to explain away this darkness as being a regular solar eclipse. Then from Saturday evening after sunset till early in the morning on Sunday was a portion of a 24 hour cycle so it also counted as a day and a night, even though Jesus apparently resurrected before Sunrise. The Historical Jesus. Unfortunately, no one of those three pairs, that is, recorded event vs. eclipse, is a perfect fit or a harmonious pair. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Phlegon had specifically stated in his Olympiades: "In the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was a great eclipse of the Sun, greater than had ever been known before, for at the 6th hour the day was changed into night and the stars were seen in the heavens.". He stated that in the 19th year of Tiberius and the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (i.e., AD 33), a large eclipse occurred which turned day to night around the sixth hour (noon), and an earthquake destroyed many houses in the city of Nicaea. The former says: "In the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was an extraordinary eclipse of the sun: at the sixth hour, the day was turned into dark night, so that the stars in heaven were seen; and there was an earthquake in Bithynia, which overthrew many houses in the city of Nice." So, it is possible, if not probable, that Jesus was born on 31st March, 4BCE certainly in that March anyhow. College Press Publishing Co. Joplin, Missouri. The 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad is from July 32 to June 33 CE, which confirms the date of 3 April 33 CE. . No one has ever met a literary device walking down the street or stubbed their toe on one, thus we should not expect that any early Christian would have suffered martyrdom for one. Eusebius' records of the Olympics were considered authoritative but were lost, though they are translated and preserved some in the writings of others. source:http://earthquaketrack.com/il-06-jerusalem/recent. The timing of this "eclipse" referred to by Phlegon is similar to the event described in the Gospels. 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